NBO Film Festival names 54 films for Nairobi, 15–25 October; Rwanda's Ben'Imana opens

The seventh NBO Film Festival will screen 54 films, 33 features and 21 shorts, in Nairobi from 15 to 25 October 2026, according to the line-up Sinema Focus published on 6 October. The festival opens with Ben'Imana, the debut feature by Rwandan director Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo.

Sinema Focus said Ben'Imana, a co-production involving Rwanda, Gabon, France, Norway and Côte d'Ivoire, was the first film by a Rwandan director to premiere in the Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival. It won the Caméra d'Or, which goes to the best first feature, and the FIPRESCI Prize at the 79th Cannes Film Festival in May 2026, the outlet reported.

Screenings will take place at four Nairobi venues, among them Unseen Cinema, Kaloleni Social Hall and Alliance Française Nairobi, which Sinema Focus described as a fourth venue announced recently. The festival's own website lists dates of 15–25 October 2026 and says it will hold free and community screenings in social halls and city spaces.

Among the Kenyan titles is Kikuyu Land, a documentary that premiered at Sundance. The film, directed by Bea Wangondu and Andrew H. Brown, examines historical land atrocities and injustices that still shape land ownership and power in the Kenyan highlands, according to Sinema Focus.

One Woman One Bra, a Kenya–Nigeria co-production that premiered in Venice, is described by Sinema Focus as Kenya's 2027 Oscar submission. The Special Presentation is Call Me Queen, a Kenya–Germany–France–UK co-production.

Other highlights named in the line-up are Cotton Queen, which premiered in the Critics' Week section of the 2025 Venice International Film Festival, and Lady, a Nigerian feature that premiered at Sundance.

The programme includes the festival's first filmmaker retrospective, devoted to the French-Senegalese director Alain Gomis. It has five films: Félicité, Rewind & Play, Tey, L'Afrance and Andalucia. In an earlier article published on 2 September, Sinema Focus said the retrospective was supported by EUNIC, the European Union National Institutes for Culture, and that Gomis would attend audience and industry events during the festival.

The festival also has a Lunchbox programme of five films and a family programme of two features and two shorts, Sinema Focus said. The festival website lists a Fiction Feature Competition of five films with a Jury Award.

The 2 September article said this edition adds two competitive categories: the Nick Wambugu Prize for Documentary, for the best documentary feature in competition, and a Short Film Fiction competition. The documentary prize is named after Wambugu, known for the documentary The People Shall, who died in January 2026, according to the same article.

The expanded industry programme includes the NBO Project Showcase, and selected projects will be eligible for a KSh 250,000 NBO Development Grant, Sinema Focus reported on 6 October.

Artistic Director Mbithi Masya was quoted by Sinema Focus on 2 September as saying: "Cinema for us means creating a space where audiences can discover, celebrate and engage with the stories being made across Africa and beyond."

The festival's website directs visitors to its schedule page, where screenings can be browsed by day, venue or programme and booked.